Summary: Raul Castro, a 14 year old boy from California, told police that he drowned his 4 year old neighbor so that he wouldn't tell on him. The young victim, Alex Mercato, had threatened to tell his mother that Castro had molested him. On Friday, Castro lured the boy to his home where he molested him. Mercato tripped, hit his head, and then threatened to tell. When this happened the older boy got nervous, and drowned the toddler in a bathtub. Fresno County has charged Castro as an adult with special circumstances including murder, sodomy, kidnapping and murder of a witness to prevent testimony. In California 14-year-olds aren't eligable for the death penalty or life imprisonment without parole. If found guilty, Castro could get no more than 32 years to life plus 15 years.
Opinion: Sometimes it is hard to fathom the horrible things that take place in our world. This is one such crime that seems too awful to have ever happened. I agree completely with Sarah Wadi when she questions how a boy of just 14 years of age could possibly be so messed up, so mentally unstable, to commit these acts. Middle schoolers are supposed to have lots of their innocence still intact, 14 year olds may be teenagers but they are still very young. What has Raul Castro been exposed to in those years that has caused him to be such a malicious and dangerous person? I usually don't believe that people that younger people should be tried as adults, but in this case I think an exception is possibly needed. If Castro is capable of this thoughtless crime now, what about the future? As Sarah says in her blog, my thoughts are mainly with the poor family of little Alex Mercato. The pain they must feel after losing a child to such a horrific fate must be excruciating.
Sources: Sarah Wadi's blog
http://www.cnn.com/2009/CRIME/11/04/california.boy.slaying/index.html
Opinion: Sometimes it is hard to fathom the horrible things that take place in our world. This is one such crime that seems too awful to have ever happened. I agree completely with Sarah Wadi when she questions how a boy of just 14 years of age could possibly be so messed up, so mentally unstable, to commit these acts. Middle schoolers are supposed to have lots of their innocence still intact, 14 year olds may be teenagers but they are still very young. What has Raul Castro been exposed to in those years that has caused him to be such a malicious and dangerous person? I usually don't believe that people that younger people should be tried as adults, but in this case I think an exception is possibly needed. If Castro is capable of this thoughtless crime now, what about the future? As Sarah says in her blog, my thoughts are mainly with the poor family of little Alex Mercato. The pain they must feel after losing a child to such a horrific fate must be excruciating.
Sources: Sarah Wadi's blog
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